Archives for November 2013

The so-called Third Wave coffee movement coincided with a renewed interest in manual brew methods. Chemexes, V60s, and Aeropresses came part and parcel with lighter roasts, traceability, and smaller sizes. Although very few cafes eighty-sixed autodrip all together, the clear message to consumers was: slower is better. But recently a slew of cafes have questioned the status quo. Handsome, G&B, and Heart are just some of the coffee shops that have chosen to exclusively serve automated brew methods, causing many baristas to question everything they thought they knew about specialty coffee.

Pour-overs vs Autodrip

Which is better for brewing coffee in a cafe environment: autodrip or manually brewed coffee? That’s the question we posed to a group of leading coffee professionals, including Ryan Soeder of Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, John Letoto of Blacksmith, Hugh Duffie of TAP Coffee, and Andrew Cash of Jubala Village Coffee. Here are their responses:

Hugh Duffie of TAP Coffee

I think manual brewing ties in with the whole specialty coffee scene: working with an every day product to try and make it something special that people look forward to. Knowing the amount of effort that we put into sourcing our coffees, developing our roast profiles and training our staff to do the coffee justice – it just seems mad not to …

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the Dirt Bag Barista, Zach Hester, but we’re glad to know he’s alive and well- last seen somewhere in New Mexico. To catch up on his travels read Part I, Part II, and Part III.

The Earth Ships of Taos New Mexico

We had just come from the Earth Ships of Taos and the wild sagebrush stretched for acres, maybe miles. The smell was what you’d imagine— turpentine and beautiful desert mythos. From left to right the vast desert stretched into some wild blanket of the brush until finally, some miles off, it ceased in growth at the foot of the Sangre Di Cristo Mountains. Somewhere in the distance you could see the coloring of yellow October Aspens and, illuminated by the sun, it became suddenly quite clear why Taos is the oldest continually inhabited community within our United States. The history dates back to 1000 A.D. I feel certain places secrete a stillness in the air that carries over into its’ environment, I’m not sure what one would call it—I imagine a lot of names for such held breaths in the natural world exists and Taos certainly carried this notion in abundance. The place is powerful.

As Bill Murray observes in The Life Aquatic, Kentucky is a landlocked state. But everyone needs to visit the coast sometimes, and whenever we have the option we head west. We caught up with our friend Adam Pike, a former barista and native Californian, and asked him where to get coffee in San Diego.

Craft Coffee at Your Door Step

Choosing the right coffee is a lot like choosing a good wine. It requires a well developed palette, a working knowledge of technical vocabulary, a keen interest in geography, and usually, willingness to spend a decent amount of money. Faced with a plethora of options, it would be nice if someone we trusted would just order for us.

Enter Craft Coffee. Craft Coffee is a a monthly coffee subscription service that …